The Genizaro & The Artist Book

The village of Abiquiú, New Mexico, is easily missed by the casual traveler who might think that Abiquiú consists of only the post office and a few stores along Highway 84, about 46 miles northwest of Santa Fe. If one were to go up the road, pass the post office, onto the above mesa, one would be stepping back into an era of early Spanish and Native American history. Abiquiú is established on the site of an old abandoned Indian Pueblo. In the mid-18th century it became a settlement of Spaniards and Genízaros. (A Genízaro claims ancestry of both the Colonial Spanish settlers and Native American Indian tribes of the area.) Like many northern New Mexico villages, Abiquiú has attracted various artists who come to this part of the world to capture the beauty of the landscape One such artist was Georgia O'Keeffe, who first came to this area in early 1930s. She bought a home in the village of Abiquiú in the mid-1940s and lived there for over 40 years. Many journalists and authors have come to the village, interviewed some of the locals and then returned to their big city desks and written about the quaint village life, its inhabitants and its famous world-renowned artist. However, there has never been a book written from the perspective of a native from the village. Not only is Napoleón Garcia a native of Abiquiú, he knew and worked for Georgia O'Keeffe over the 40 years that she made Abiquiú her home, living "around the corner" from his home on the plaza in the pueblo. Napoleón has been interviewed by many of the big city journalists; but has always felt that the resulting work never truly told the story of hisvillage and what it was like having such a famous resident as a fellow villager. With the help of his friend, Analinda, he now has that opportunity to tell his own story.